The Future's Headed for the Past
by remusbloodylupin
Summary: Hermione Granger never gave back the time-turner in third year. This changes everything. Time travel, werewolf packs, and secrets, oh my! This will be Remione time travel. AU from the summer of 6th year. Title from the song On and On by The Score
1. Chapter 1

3 July 1997

Hermione Granger stepped outside of the Burrow and sat on the front steps, watching the gnomes in the garden. The glass of water in her hand was cool, and she put it down next to her after taking a sip. As she thought, her fingers found the thin gold chain around her neck and fiddled with it. The door behind her opened and closed quietly, and a set of light footsteps made their way towards her.

Remus Lupin eased himself down onto the step next to Hermione. They sat in companionable silence for a minute, then Hermione broke the silence.

"It's always so loud in there. Sometimes I feel like out here is the only relatively calm place." She drifted back to silence.

Remus snorted lightly, and Hermione could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. "I know exactly what you're talking about. Makes it hard to make any progress with the meditation, right?"

Hermione jumped. "How did you know?" She twisted to look at her former professor, who met her wide-eyed gaze steadily.

"I'm a werewolf, Hermione. I can smell the difference. Even without that, your behaviours are changing already. Just enough for those familiar with the process to recognize. You're some kind of canine, aren't you? No worries, I'm not going to stop you, or tell anyone." A different kind of smile, almost a smirk, graced his face, and abruptly Hermione was reminded that the man was a Marauder. She relaxed and took a deep breath.

"I'm a timber wolf. I started a couple of months ago, during the school year, when we were working with the mandrakes. It wasn't hard to pinch a leaf or two, and Harry and Ron are both to oblivious to notice." Hermione picked up her glass of water and inspected it, taking a sip as she avoided Remus' eyes.

Remus' light chuckle surprised her. "And everyone thinks that you're a rule-following prefect. Might I inquire as to why you're becoming an Animagus?" Hermione could feel his eyes shift away from her and to the garden, and she noticed his fingers begin to fiddle with the silver coloured band he wore on his finger.

"I follow the rules until they don't benefit me, or I work out loopholes. That way, when people realize that I've broken a rule, they think, 'Oh, she must have had a good reason,' and leave it at that. And I'm becoming an animagus for a few reasons." She paused there, readying herself and simultaneously trying to figure out how to say it. Remus' eyes shifted back to her. "We're in a war. People are fighting and dying. It's always handy to have every advantage possible, and not only is my form good to run or hide with, it's also big enough to fight with. Then there's…" Hermione trailed off, meeting Remus' gaze shortly, then ducked her head. "Ever since the Department of Mysteries, you've been alone, on the full moons. I know that they're easier when you're not alone, so, I figured, well, maybe I could help." She ducked her head, fighting down a blush as she fidgeted with her drink.

She missed the way Remus' face portrayed his surprise. "Hermione…" he said.

Hermione got angry, thinking that he was going to refuse her help. "No, Remus, you can't stop me. I watch you, after the full moons. I talked to Sirius about it, too! He's the one who told me how much it helps to have others around, even if what I've been seeing didn't convince me! He also told me how to become an animagus. So I'm going to continue, and help you, Remus Lupin, even if I have to come after moonrise and break in." Hermione met Remus' eyes, breathing heavy from her short tirade.

Remus looked astonished at her outburst, but then what she said fully registered. "Sirius started this? Were the two of you close? I got the impression that you were more acquaintances than anything else."

Hermione looked back down, her anger fading. "Sirius and I were friends. Not nearly as close as you and him, but friends all the same. I tend to spend time reading instead of sleeping late at night, and pretty early into last summer, I came down to the kitchen for a drink of water at about two in the morning or so. He was sitting at the table, head in his hands, stuck in a flashback, so I put my hand on his shoulder. He resurfaced slowly, and I hated seeing the look on his face, like he was broken.

"It was just the two of us awake, and we talked for a minute. I couldn't take it, so I transfigured our clothes into something acceptable for muggles, put a glamour on him and myself, and brought him to the all-night café around the corner for a cuppa and an escape. Since then, we were friends. I think I was just a support, a reminder that he was human sometimes." Hermione and Remus sat in silence for a minute, staring into the garden, until Remus swallowed audibly.

"Thank you." He broke the silence.

"For what?" Hermione looked at him.

"For helping Sirius when I couldn't." It was Remus' turn to fidget with his drink. "And for doing this. Becoming an Animagus, I mean."

Hermione smiled softly and looked out at the garden. "You know, the night before we went back to school that summer, Sirius asked me to do something." Hermione paused.

"Hmm?" Remus asked.

She swallowed. "He asked me, that if anything happened to him, to make sure that you were okay. 'Harry's got all this support from the Weasleys, from the Order, from you and Moony,' he said, 'But Remus has really only got me, you know.'" Hermione sighed. "How could I say no? He felt so horrible, Remus, that you were alone for so long. 'I would have asked Harry, too,' Sirius continued, 'but he's got too much on his plate already. I know you've got a huge load already, but I know that you can manage it.' And he was right, especially since I never gave back this in the commotion of the end of third year." Hermione pulled on the thin chain around her neck, dragging out the time turner on the end, holding it up for Remus to see. "It makes things a bit easier." Hermione gave a half-smile, then tucked the device back into her shirt. She didn't meet Remus' gaze, looking at her knees instead.

"Is that a time turner?" Remus asked.

"Yeah." Hermione picked at a piece of lint on her pants.

"You really are quite the rule-bender, aren't you?" The Marauder smirk was back, Hermione discovered with a quick glance at Remus. Hermione let a similar smirk crawl across her face.

"There's a reason that I have a 15% share in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes…" she met his eyes.

"Oh?" Remus tilted his head, much like a curious dog would.

"I help them test and troubleshoot, and I add in a few of my own ideas."

"You keep surprising me, Hermione Granger," Remus said, then tilted his head back and closed his eyes. They sat in comfortable silence for another minute or two, then Remus spoke up again, letting his head fall back down.

"Do you want some help with the meditation? Sirius told me that they used to take turns guiding."

Hermione looked at Remus with one eyebrow raised. "You wouldn't mind?"

"No, not at all." Remus gave her a smile. "Exactly how far along are you?"

"All I've got left is the final transformation, but I've not been able to get past the final barrier."

"Good job. All right, where have you been meditating?" Remus asked, and Hermione saw as he shifted into his teacher mode.

Hermione responded by shifting into her student mode, straightening her posture. "I've been working at night after Ginny falls asleep. It's hard to do it during the day or elsewhere because I keep getting interrupted."

She watched as he considered this. "Sirius told me that it was easier for them to meditate and work in the Forbidden Forest because it was easier to tap into their animal sides. Where…" Remus trailed off, and Hermione stayed quiet, letting him think as she absorbed the information. "Would you like to try in a forest? My place is pretty deep in woods, so I don't have to worry as much about neighbours on the full moons. I can go tell Molly that I'm borrowing you to help with something if you'd like."

Hermione brightened at the idea. "I'd like to try that, if you don't mind."

"All right. Be back in a second." Remus stood up slowly from the step and turned to go inside, but as he put a hand on the knob, he turned back and asked, "You've your wand, right?"

"Yeah," Hermione answered, and Remus disappeared inside. Hermione stood up and stretched, sore from sitting for so long. She checked to make sure her beaded bag was still attached to her belt as it had been since the day before they left Hogwarts. Remus reappeared fairly quickly and held out an arm. "Shall we?" Hermione grabbed on, and Remus twisted, apparating away, pulling Hermione with him.

They landed neatly outside of a small cottage. Hermione let go of Remus' arm, and the pair walked to the backyard of the cottage. There were woods surrounding them, and Remus led Hermione to a small clearing not far into the woods. They sat down, facing each other. Hermione took a deep breath, inadvertently closing her eyes as she did, letting the scents and sounds of the forest wash over her.

"So, before we start, would you mind casting your patronus?" Remus asked. "It helps to start the meditation."

"Okay." Hermione closed her eyes, thinking of her happy memories. Laughing in the common room with Harry and Ron. Helping Fred and George with one of their products. Reading quietly in the warmth of a sunbeam in the Hogwarts library. Sharing stories with Sirius late at night in Grimmauld. "Expecto Patronum."

From the end of her wand, a bright wolf leapt out, jogging around the pair, then coming to rest beside Hermione, who gave it a light scratch behind the ears.

"Wasn't your patronus an otter?" Remus asked.

"It was," Hermione affirmed. "It changed when I started the Animagus process. I'm not sure why."

"Interesting," Remus commented. "All right. Close your eyes, and feel the patronus next to you." Hermione followed his instructions and felt the warmth and joy of her patronus wash over her. "Breathe out, and slide into the meditation." Hermione listened and felt her patronus fade as her concentration changed. She could feel the magic of the woods around her, the magic within herself, and the magic of Remus sitting across from her.

"When you're ready, reach for the wolf inside of you. Embrace it, and let it flow through your veins. Let it merge fully with your magic." Remus' calm, steady voice reached her as though he was at the other end of a long tunnel. She grasped the wild piece of magic that lay dormant within herself, and let it wash over her. Intuitively, she knew that she had succeeded in passing that final barrier and that she was probably in her animagus form.

"Congratulations, Hermione," Remus' voice echoed to her. She pulled herself out of the meditation slowly and opened her eyes. The world around her was dampened in colour, but the smells and sounds were highly amplified.

Hermione felt her tail (she had a tail!) wag as she looked around. Remus had a grin on his face as he watched her. She stood up from the sitting position she had been in, and walked slowly around the clearing, sniffing and getting used to working four legs instead of two. It was surprisingly easy, and soon she was loping gently around. After a few laps, she stopped and trotted to Remus, who was still seated in the centre of the clearing.

"Here." He said and transfigured a large mirror. Hermione looked at herself. She was bi-coloured. Her back was dark brown, the same colour as her hair, which faded into a bright white towards her belly and legs. Her eyes were a dark amber, different from her normal brown. After a minute of self-inspection, she tilted back her head and let out a howl. It echoed through the woods around them, and as it died away, Hermione transformed back into her human form, a huge grin on her face.

"If you're going to help me on the full moons, there's only one more thing you need," Remus said, the Marauder smirk on his face. Hermione cocked her head, silently asking what. "A nickname." His smirk widened, as did hers.

He stood still for a minute, thinking, then his eyes flashed. "Slip."

"What?" Hermione asked. She liked it but wasn't sure where it came from.

"Wolves are quiet hunters, they slip from shadow to shadow silently. So, Slip." Hermione nodded her assent, a smirk like Remus' spreading across her face.

"And, with an expression like that, you're a Marauder; congratulations."

The smirk dropped from Hermione's face and was replaced by surprise.

"Really?"

Remus' smirk mellowed into a smile. "Of course. The Marauders were based on three principles, eventually. Pranking, rule-breaking, and helping me on the full moon. So, please do explain your confusion."

"No, I get it now." Hermione's mouth stretched into a smile.

"Right. So, in order to celebrate your initiation, we should pull a few pranks." The Marauder smirk was back, and Hermione suspected that Remus' was mirrored on her own face.

"I have an idea," Hermione said, and Remus tilted his head inquiringly at her. "Take everything in the boys' room and put it on the ceiling."

Remus considered this for a second, and then a predatory grin crept across his face. "Slip, I do believe that idea would work quite nicely. Sticking charms?"

"Sticking charms, and a disillusionment charm to sneak in. Flip everything, then sneak out and come back in normally, Moony?" Hermione could tell that Remus' grin was once more mirrored on her.

"And the twins will most likely take the blame…" Remus said.

Hermione said nothing in response to this, instead tapping her wand on her head to disillusion herself after quirking an eyebrow at him. Remus followed suit after offering her his arm, and the Marauders disapparated back to the Burrow, sliding in unnoticed. Ron's room was empty, as was Percy's, and it didn't take long for the pair to flip everything. It was going on late afternoon at this point, and when they re-entered the Burrow, nobody suspected anything.

By some stroke of luck, both boys went into their rooms at the same time. Hermione and Remus listened, amused, as the two had minor freak-outs before running back downstairs. They enjoyed the aftermath of their prank, and they were correct; the twins took the blame, even though they vehemently denied participating.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Hello! Thanks for giving my story a chance. Please drop me a comment if you liked it, if you have questions, recommendations, whatever! I don't normally bite. (I promise.)**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing that you recognise in this story is mine. I simply borrowed events, timelines, and characters from our dear JK Rowling so I could play with them.**

 **As for an updating schedule, I don't really have one. I have a bunch of pre-written stuff, but I write when I feel like it, otherwise I basically hate the product. So, therefore, updating schedule will be when I feel like it. Sorry if that's not what you want. I am a first year in university, so I should be able to write often-ish (or at least that's what's been happening).**

 **Stay tuned if you want more!**

 **Remus**


	2. Chapter 2

20 July 1997

The first full moon that Hermione was able to help Remus was the 20th of July. She had been practising shifting between her wolf and human forms until it was much faster and much easier. Nightly runs helped her fitness, even though it wasn't planned. The first night after she had achieved her form, she couldn't sleep and decided to go for a run. It had become a habit since then. Hermione hadn't been horribly out of shape, but people had started to notice the difference. The attention made the bookworm a little more comfortable in her own skin, and she enjoyed it.

She was especially thankful of her midnight runs during the full moon, as Moony was very active and loved to play. Not too long before dawn, the two wolves curled up near each other and caught a few hours of sleep, exhausted from their romp. Hermione woke to Remus' howls, then screams, of pain as he transformed back. She quickly grabbed a bathrobe and gave it to her former professor. He wrapped it around his waist, giving Hermione a good view of the torn skin over his spine. She handed him the potions he normally took and set to trying to heal his back. She was able to stop the bleeding and encourage new skin to start to grow, hopefully preventing a re-opening of his wound.

Once she finished, the two of them worked together to heave Remus from the ground. He leaned heavily on her as they walked back to his cabin. Hermione helped him into his bed and turned to go get the rest of the potions Remus needed to take later, but the older man snagged her wrist gently.

"Thank you, Slip," Remus' green eyes bored into her own. "I'm not sure if you know exactly how much what you've done means to me, and I have no clue how to explain it."

Hermione gave him a soft smile, not really knowing exactly what to say, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of appreciation she was getting from Remus. He let her wrist drop, and Hermione left to get his potions. By the time she got back to the room, he was fast asleep. Hermione left a note that said, 'I'm back at the Burrow. Send a patronus if you need anything. - Slip.' Then she collected her things and apparated back to the Burrow.

It was still early dawn, and nobody was quite up and moving yet in the Burrow. She made a cup of tea and went back out to the step, holding the cup between her hands and watching the steam curl up into the warming morning. Soon enough, people got up and started moving, and Hermione was roped into the everyday hubbub of living with the Weasleys.

That evening, an Order meeting was called, and for once, the underage occupants of the house were invited to participate. They were planning for Harry's retrieval, and a significant amount of ideas were passed around, but it was Moody's idea of decoys that caught on. The problem was how to create the decoys.

"Human transfiguration won't suffice, Molly. It's not comprehensive enough, and if we run into complications, it won't hold up during a fight." Moody shot down another idea.

"Polyjuice?" Ron offered.

Moody eyed Ron suspiciously. "Polyjuice would work, but if we're going to do this, the timing doesn't work. It takes a month to brew, boy, and we don't have access to any pre-brewed potion."

"Oh," Ron said and slumped a little in his seat. The meeting fell silent, everybody racking their brains for a way to create the decoys.

Only Remus noticed Hermione digging in her pocket and the glint in her eye. She stilled in her motions, and a tiny triumphant smirk stretched across her face. Remus raised one eyebrow, but cleared his throat, getting ready to speak for the first time in the whole meeting.

"I believe Hermione has something." Heads snapped to Remus, then to Hermione, who pulled a large vial out of her pocket, then rolled it down the table to Moody. As the eyes in the room followed the vial, Hermione met Remus' gaze again and gave a quick wink.

"It's under a strong stasis spell," was the only explanation she offered to the room.

Moody swished the potion around, then turned to look at Hermione.

"You want to explain why you've Polyjuice in your pocket?"

The only way that Remus could describe the smirk on Hermione's face was as a Marauder's smirk, and it only widened with Moody's question.

"Constant Vigilance, sir." She met Moody's stare calmly, smirk still comfortable on her face. Remus could feel the corners of his lips tugging into a similar expression, and fought it. He glanced quickly around the rest of the group and noted the different reactions. The twins looked excited but not surprised at all, most of the adults looked surprised or astonished, and Ron seemed like he was unsurprised like the twins, but greatly appreciating Hermione's answer to Moody's question.

Moody, on the other hand, looked approving. "How much?"

"Seven doses, if we stretch it. Six, comfortably."

"Good." Moody rolled the vial back to Hermione, who slid it back into her pocket, which obviously had some sort of extension charm on it. Her eyes flicked to Remus again, and he gave a slight nod and a smirk.

"How?" asked Mrs Weasley.

"I brewed it," Hermione commented offhandedly, waving a hand. "Now, who are we going to use? It's my Polyjuice, and I'm participating. Probably as a decoy, yeah?"

Moody gave a terrible grin. "You've surprised me tonight, girl. I like it. Yeah, you're in. Preferred method of transport?"

"Thestral, but that's impractical; Harry'd probably be on a broom. So broom. Oh, and a broom won't spook if there's a fight." Hermione decided. Moody's grin widened, and Remus failed to conceal his smirk.

"But you hate brooms! And flying in general!" Ron burst out.

"Yes, but it's what we need." Hermione put her face straight, and then surveyed the people assembled, presumably trying to figure out pairings. She kept them to herself, though. Remus saw Moody notice as well, but the ex-auror didn't press.

"Well, I'm in too, probably as a decoy," Ron said, over his mother's protests, which his father silenced with a few quiet words. Mrs Weasley folded her arms, not happy, but didn't press more.

Both twins volunteered as decoys as well, and Fleur Delacour volunteered too, surprising the crowd again. Moody volunteered Mundungus as well, despite the man's protests. A harsh glare from Moody silenced him.

Remus, tired from the previous night's full moon, leaned back in his chair. A headache was building from the noise as everyone debated more. Movement from Hermione caught his eye, but she only walked past him to get a glass of water. He tried to pay attention to the plans, but he couldn't. Something dropped into his jacket pocket, and he looked up suddenly, but Hermione kept walking. She took her seat again, but she gave Remus a significant look, nodding towards his jacket. He reached inside and found a headache cure, and quickly downed it, releasing a sigh of relief as the cure banished the pounding in his head. He sent a quick look of thanks to Hermione, then joined the meeting again. Now that he could think, he realized just how stupid some of the pairings were. As he tried to figure out how to interrupt the arguing that filled the room, a loud bang silenced the room. McGonagall put her wand away, the stares of the room on her.

"Arguing like this is not a good way to get anything done. Now, I've heard just about everybody's thoughts, and there are only a few that make sense. Mundungus and Alastor and Arthur and one of the twins. Now, does anyone want to suggest another pairing?"

The room was quiet until Remus spoke up. "I agree, Minerva, with those two. I propose that we send the twin not with Arthur with Kingsley. Both Arthur and Kingsley are level-headed enough to balance out the twin's brashness."

The twins opened their mouths to argue but were shut up by Hermione. "No, don't argue. He's right; you both are impulsive, and need someone to reign you in, especially if there's a fight." The twins leaned back in their chairs, mirror images of each other with their arms crossed over their chests and petulant looks on their faces.

The room was still quiet, letting Remus think for another minute. "Fleur and Bill together. I believe that's fairly obvious," Remus said dryly. McGonagall nodded her approval.

"You should take Harry, Remus," Minerva said.

Remus shook his head. "That's too obvious, no matter how much I'd like to agree. No, put Harry with Hagrid on Sirius' old bike. We can ward the bike in a way we can't ward brooms or thestrals, and Hagrid is a good driver. That way, there's also more room for Harry's stuff down in the bottom of the sidecar as well."

A few Order members opened their mouths to argue, but Hermione got there first. "That's quite good. Also, I know Hagrid can't ride a broom or use a wand, but he knows that bike inside and out, probably well enough to use it as a weapon if worst comes to worst."

Heads turned towards Hagrid, who, looking a tad overwhelmed by the support, nodded. "Sure, she's a coupl'a tricks up 'er sleeve."

Hermione nodded decisively. "That just leaves Ron and me, correct?" Remus gave a nod. "Send Ron with Tonks. They're both good on brooms, and Tonks is an auror, so-" Ron opened his mouth, offended, but Hermione cut him off. "So she can cover Ron's lower amount of experience with duelling, it's not an insult, Ron, we're both younger, it makes sense." A few nods passed around the table at that.

"So who're you thinking of going with?" Moody asked Hermione. She regarded him for a second, then slid her eyes to Remus.

"Remus. He's another strong dueler, to cover for me being younger, and in a fight, Remus' strengths work well with mine: both of us tend to prefer to dodge rather than shield and are offense-heavy, so we won't rely on someone else for defence, because that's not the way we fight. The similar styles also allow for better understanding of each other during a fight, because it's easier to predict what your partner will do if you're intimately familiar with their style of fighting." Moody seemed to consider this, then agreed.

"All right. Does anyone have any protests for the pairings?" Moody's gaze dared people to challenge him, and a few shifted under the harsh glare. But nobody protested, and the meeting concluded quickly.

Moody caught both Hermione and Remus directly after the meeting. "I want to see the two of you fight. Not tonight, obviously," he nodded towards Remus, who was using the back of a chair to stand due to his exhaustion. "But sometime before this mission, so soon. When's the soonest you can do, Lupin?"

Remus considered this, then answered, "Not tomorrow, but probably the day after. That's what? Tuesday, if today's Sunday?"

Moody nodded, then said, "Tuesday afternoon. Two?"

"Sure." "Works for me," said Hermione and Remus, after sharing a glance.

"Good. Get home, Lupin, and rest up." Moody walked off, and Remus chuffed a laugh.

"I don't know whether or not to be scared," he said, and Hermione agreed. Remus felt her eyes rake critically over himself, taking in the exhaustion that seemed to ooze out of every one of his pores.

"Let's get you home, Moony. You need sleep, especially if we're doing some sort of mental training fight with Moody. You comfortable apparating yourself, or do you need a lift?" He considered it, but his hesitation translated to 'no' for Hermione.

"All right, I can drop you off." Hermione turned to go outside, and Remus followed.

"I'll be fine, Slip-" Hermione sent him a glare, and he dropped the rest of what he was going to say.

"You might be fine, Moony, but you're exhausted and recovering. And if you dare say that you managed for all those years, I'll hit you. Plus, this way I don't have to worry." Her words were fierce and made Remus dip his head, giving in.

"Well then, Miss Slip, lead the way."

"Gladly, Mr Moony." Once they made it away from the rest of the Order, Hermione slung an arm around Remus's waist, letting him lean on her, having noticed how hard he was working simply walking. Remus was thankful for her silent help.

They reached the bounds of the wards quickly, and Remus secured his hold on Hermione, and she did the same to him. Then he felt her twist away from him, and then the suffocating tube of apparition. They landed heavily on the grass outside his cottage, and Remus' knees buckled, only Hermione keeping him from hitting the ground hard. She only sent him a glance that said, 'I told you so,' which Remus acknowledged.

They chatted as Hermione helped her fellow Marauder to bed, grabbing a few more potions and leaving them on his nightstand.

A few minutes after she arrived, Remus was already asleep, and Hermione quietly let herself out, apparating back to the Burrow.

She found that the Burrow had emptied a fair bit since she had left, and decided to make her way up to bed herself. She said goodnight to those left, then got ready for bed. The twins were waiting for her when she got back to her and Ginny's room after brushing her teeth.

"You and Remus, huh?" Fred started.

Hermione shook her head. "Friends. That's it."

"Well, to us," "You seemed pretty close," "And very much on the same wavelength during the meeting." The twins leaned in closer, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Then you walked out of the Burrow," "Holding each other," "And apparated away." "Not to mention," "You called him Moony," "And he called you Slip."

Hermione actually laughed at this, confusing the twins. "You've got it wrong. It was the full moon last night, and he was exhausted enough to have trouble walking, so I didn't trust him to apparate without splinching himself. So I apparated him home. That's it. And the nickname, well, that's a different story." She walked around the twins and put down her toiletries, hiding a smirk. When she turned around again, the twins had turned around to watch her. The door was still open, but with a few quick spells, she shut it, silenced it, and set an alert in case anyone came near.

"Hermione!" the twins exclaimed in unison, eyes glinting. "He's twenty years older than you!" George continued, making Hermione laugh.

"Even if you had my age right, he's only 19 years older than me, same as you." The twins shared a glance. "You're only creating more questions," "And we will get the answers, one way or another," they said.

Hermione grinned. "Two questions. One each." The twins looked at her with surprise, but Fred spoke up first and asked, "What did you mean, even if we had your age right?"

Hermione sighed. "He's actually only 15 years older than me."

"Wait, so you're," "21?" the twins burst out. Hermione arched an eyebrow and asked, "Is that really your second question? Clearly, my expectations were too high. Well-"

"No!" yelped the twins in unison. "That wasn't our second question!"

Hermione laughed, and George asked the next question. "Can you explain Moony and Slip?"

At this, Hermione deadpanned, "Yes." The twins waited, but no more information was forthcoming. "Yes what?" they asked.

"Yes, I can explain Moony and Slip." Hermione's mouth twisted into a smirk as the twin's jaws dropped open.

Hermione took pity on them and explained. "They're Marauder names. And Moony is from the Marauder's Map, yes."

The twin's jaws dropped. They clearly didn't know that she knew about the Map and that Remus Lupin was one of their idols.

"Now, get! I want to sleep." She unlocked the door, and when the twins didn't move, she put her hands on their chests and pushed them backwards out of the room, shutting the door in their faces.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hello again! If you liked it, drop a like, follow or comment. I didn't really realise exactly how happy each email alert would make me!**

 **I will be responding to reviews down here for each chapter from now on, so here we go.**

 **To KitsuniLunier24: Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

 **To KateKat1992: Here's some more!**

 **To JessicaImpossible: Here's more for you yo read, and I definitely will be continuing, no worries!**

 **To LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL: Thank you! High praise from the Head Girl :)**

 **To Guest: I'm glad you like the nickname Slip- it took me forever to pick it out, and thank you very much!**

 **Thank you as well to everyone who read, followed, and favourited as well.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Remus**


	3. Chapter 3

21 July 1997

Hermione woke early and brought a book outside to read as the sky lightened, enjoying the quiet. What she didn't expect was the twins appearing on either side of her, a cup of tea for her already offered. She took it, cast a few detection spells over it, found it clean, and took a sip. It wasn't bad, but she had a feeling it was bribery.

Hermione sighed and stood up, placing her book on the railing but keeping the cup of tea.

"Come on. I don't really want to be overheard."

"Yes, Miss Slip. Anything you say, Miss Slip." Hermione rolled her eyes at the pranksters but continued into the orchard within the Burrow's wards. The twins were surprisingly well-behaved, but she supposed that they really wanted information.

Once they were out of sight of the Burrow, Hermione turned to them and leaned against a tree. "Before you ask, yes, I am a Marauder, I was born in 1979, and yes, I am 21. Oh, and the other Marauders are Remus Lupin, which you knew, Sirius Black, James Potter, and Pettigrew."

The twins looked at her in awe, then bowed. Hermione wasn't sure whether or not they were being facetious or not. She found out quickly that they were not.

"Miss Slip, Your Marauder Excellency, please educate us! We bow to your wisdom!" Hermione laughed, and they straightened up. "I'll talk to Remus. Maybe we can sneak away from your mother later. But for now, please keep this under wraps. Anybody who knows who the Marauders are pretty likely to find out my secret if it's spread around, and I do enjoy being trusted by those who hold authority as a responsible person."

The twins' eyes lit up, and they leaned forward. "What secret?" they asked in unison.

Hermione sighed and held out her tea to George, who took it but was confused. She then winked and shifted into her animagus form. She let the twins gape for a minute, then shifted back, taking her tea out of George's unresisting hands with a laugh at their slack faces. She touched a finger to her lips, then turned and walked back towards the Burrow. She could hear them follow her thanks to her wolf senses, and allowed herself a small grin.

Over her shoulder, she tossed, "Oh, and the prank on the boy's rooms? The Marauders strike again." She heard their footsteps stop and smiled again. She finished her tea, cleaned the cup, put it away, grabbed her book, and, avoiding the twins, apparated to Remus'.

She sat down at the table, knowing that Remus wouldn't mind, and opened her book.

Remus emerged from his room not too much later, completely unsurprised or bothered to see Hermione there. He greeted her, and, as he expected, received a distracted "Morning."

"Did you eat yet?" he asked, stretching slightly. Hermione shook her head in the negative, still barely perceiving his presence. He started a pot of hot water for tea and scrambled a few eggs. 'Merlin,' he thought, 'She's more like Skidi every day...'

Hermione finally surfaced from her book when he placed the food and a cup of tea in front of her, sitting down across from her at the table. He grinned at the surprised look on her face and waved slightly. "Good morning, again."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione said, flushing. "Morning."

"No worries. I know I do the same. It was fun to see someone else do it, for once. The boys used to make fun of me all the time for it."

Hermione let out a laugh and marked the book, exchanging it for the fork that Remus had provided. "Thanks, Moony."

"You're welcome. Now, what brings you to my kitchen table so early?" Remus asked, taking a bite of eggs.

"Well, I'm hiding from the twins. They caught me bringing you here last night, and cornered me when I got back, then literally waited for me with a cup of tea this morning. In short, they know that you're a Marauder, and, well, that I'm a Marauder as well. Oh, and they know we flipped the rooms," Hermione said nonchalantly.

"Is that all?" Remus asked sarcastically, but with a smile on his face.

"One more thing. They memorized the Marauders Map and used it until they gave it to Harry third year, so they may or may not idolize us. So they want to meet later." Hermione took a sip of tea, but Remus could tell that she was hiding a smile in the cup.

They finished breakfast, and Hermione insisted on doing the dishes, as Remus had cooked.

Then, they apparated to the Burrow. The twins immediately captured them and dragged the pair (who didn't try to resist very much) to the orchard to talk.

The twins made Remus laugh, and after they escaped, Remus made his way back to his house, and Hermione sat down to do homework. All too soon, night came, and Hermione, after a midnight run, went to sleep, looking forward to whatever it was that Moody was going to have her and Remus do the next day.

July 22, 1997

Remus apparated to the Burrow at about 1:30 in the afternoon, and was greeted by Hermione and the twins, who bowed ridiculously. While they were bowing, Hermione sent two prank spells at each of them, one turning their hair green and another changing their eye colour. Fred got purple, while George got pink. She could feel Remus' smirk, and when she caught his eye, he subtly waved his wand at the two of them and put a note on each of their backs. Fred's read, 'Kick me, I'm Fred!" and George's read 'Kick me, I'm George!' With one more wave of her wand, Hermione made it so that the twins couldn't see the changes, but everybody else could. They stowed their wands quickly as the twins stood up, but before they could do anything else, Mrs Weasley came bustling out of the house, fussing over Remus and handing him a sandwich. "My, you're much too skinny!" she fussed, making Hermione laugh at Remus' poorly hidden discomfort at being fussed over. He shot her a dirty look but pulled himself together to greet Mrs Weasley. "Molly, how are you?"

Hermione had noticed that the twins had vanished.

"Oh, those twins! They're driving me mental! They stuck Ron's underwear to his head this morning, and we can't get it off!" In a huff, Mrs Weasley stormed off again, leaving a minorly flustered Remus in her wake, holding a sandwich in one hand. The door slammed behind her, but immediately opened again and she stuck her head out.

"Hermione, dear, make sure he eats that sandwich!" The door slammed before either Marauder could say anything.

"The twins, or you?" Remus asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Eat your sandwich; she's already angry enough. And both, technically. The twins stuck Ron's boxers to his head, but I'm the one who charmed them to stay on until I cancel it. Honestly, it's too easy." Hermione made a big show of rolling her eyes, a smile on her lips.

Remus, halfway through a bite of sandwich, snorted, then swallowed, making Hermione grin.

"I still can't believe that you've everyone fooled this well." He took another bite, and Hermione bowed sarcastically.

"From what Sirius told me, you weren't so bad yourself at this." Her grin melted into a smirk.

Remus grinned and copied Hermione's sarcastic bow.

"Gryffindor Prefect, at your service."

"Eat your sandwich, Moony." Hermione snorted.

Moody showed up a little before two with Tonks in tow, and she waved a greeting at the pair talking on the steps as they stood up.

"Wotcher!" Tonks said as they got closer.

"Hello, Tonks, Moody," Hermione said, and Remus followed her example.

"Afternoon. Now, are you two ready?" Moody grunted, eyeing the pair as they affirmed that yes, they were ready.

"Good. So, you're going to fight. Together. Against Tonks and I." Moody grinned.

Hermione felt her eyes widen in surprise, but she narrowed them and answered his grin with a smirk of her own.

"I believe we can do that, Hermione?" Remus said, checking with her.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to it," Hermione said, and she watched as her smirk copied itself on Remus' face.

The door opening and closing alerted the group that they had company, and a quick glance confirmed that the twins and Ron were on the porch, watching confusedly. Moody set down a large containment spell, probably from auror training. He and Tonks retreated to a better duelling distance, as did Remus and Hermione. All four were looking forward to the fight, but Hermione could tell that Tonks was cocky, thinking that a DADA teacher and a student wouldn't be too hard for an auror and an ex-auror (especially since the ex-auror was Moody) to beat.

"Non-lethal, obviously. Otherwise, everything is fair game." Moody called from where he was standing.

"Ready, Moony?" Hermione asked Remus. He spared her a quick glance. "Always. You, Slip?" Hermione let the wide, minorly evil smirk on her face answer for her. Neither had drawn their wands yet, though Moody and Tonks had.

"On three. One, two-" Moody started but was interrupted by a spell that he deflected from Remus. Hermione could hear the growl he let loose but didn't draw her wand yet, even as both Moody and Tonks opened fire, preferring to play that they had caught her off-guard. Remus was retaliating, but Hermione knew that he knew exactly what she was doing. Dodging spells, Hermione prepared herself, rolling into position, drawing her wand mid-roll.

"Now!" Hermione shouted, and using a Reducto, threw herself into the air over Remus, letting out a hail of spells, supported by Remus' increase in spells. She managed to scrape Tonks while in mid-air due to the surprise factor. Hermione landed lightly and rolled, dodging a few spells and sending a few in return as she did.

Tonks' exclamation of surprise didn't go unheard, and a look at Moody showed grudging approval on his face. Remus flanked Hermione, and they kept fighting and dodging.

Between spells meant for Tonks and Moody, which they shielded or dodged, Hermione sent charms past them at the grass, strengthening it and enlarging it. Remus joined in almost instantly, recognizing the strategy, and they soon had the grass transfigured and enlarged to what Hermione had in mind.

Ducking a stupefy from Moody, Hermione sent a few of the more borderline Dark curses at the auror pair, surprising them enough to keep them distracted from what was behind them. A glance from Remus provided Hermione with a fierce but vaguely amused grin. "Padfoot?" He asked quietly, between spells.

"Padfoot." Hermione acknowledged that they were spells that Sirius had taught her.

"He's proud, I'm sure." Remus laughed.

"Oh, don't I know it. Ready to finish this?" Hermione said, projecting the last sentence enough for Moody and Tonks to hear, watching their reactions.

Moody's eyes widened fractionally before narrowing in determination, while Tonks' face openly showed her surprise.

"Let's go," Remus said, and the pair upped the ante again, sending spells at Moody and Tonks at a faster rate, mixing in a strong animator charm at the transfigured grass behind the pair, which flew into action, wrapping them in the strong rope-like grass. A few spells later, and both Moody and Tonks were disarmed and frozen with an immobulus.

"What do you say, Remus? Did we win?" Hermione asked facetiously.

"I'm not sure; they still haven't surrendered," Remus said, mimicking her tone. Hermione let a wicked grin slide onto her face, and she turned back to the pair on the ground, incapacitated. "I might be able to change that. Rictusempra." Hermione cast a tickling hex on the pair, causing them to wiggle and cry out, "I give!" Tonks gave in first, and Hermione lifted the hex off of her. "Dammit, Granger!" Moody growled before folding.

A few quick reparifarges and finites later, Tonks and Moody were covered in grass, which they brushed off as they stood up. Tonks held out her hand to shake, which both Remus and Hermione did.

Grudgingly, Moody said, "You two are good. How long have you been practising together? And against who?"

Hermione shrugged. "We've not actually practised, sir. Like I said at the meeting, we have very similar fighting styles. Probably because Remus was the one to teach us to duel, in third year." Remus, when everyone's eyes landed on him, just shrugged. "I was DADA teacher; I taught what I knew."

"Well, you did a damn good job, Lupin," Moody growled. He raised his wand to take down the wards, then reconsidered.

"You two up for a go against each other? I'm curious." Moody eyed both Marauders, and after a glance, the pair started sending hexes. Moody and Tonks backed up rapidly to avoid being hit by stray spells.

The pace was vicious; Remus had years of experience fighting, and Hermione had spent many hours both learning spells and fighting against dummies in the Room of Requirement, not mention participating in the DA the year before.

A glacius was cast around her feet, and Hermione let herself slip, then threw herself up in the air like before, flipping over Remus and spitting out spells the whole time. She cushioned her landing and took a quick second to cast a silencing spell on top of Moody's containment spell. That got her a few confused glances, but she didn't do anything other than keep fighting Remus, hitting him with an anteoculatia, making antlers sprout out of his head, knocking him off balance for just long enough for Hermione to yell, "And my name's not Granger anymore, Moody!" Remus faltered, and Hermione hit him with a colloshoo, sticking his feet to the ground. She knew that her hair was now bright purple and her skin orange, but she had done her damage on Remus as well, his skin gold and his hair tie-dyed. She twisted out of the way of an expelliarmus, catching a charm that enlarged her shoes.

"Really?" she shouted, stepping out of her shoes and socks, which had enlarged as well. Remus shrugged. "What the hell did you mean-" he grunted, having been hit with a knockback jinx. He landed on his feet and kept fighting, "your name's not Granger anymore?"

"I had a friend who felt like he owed me!" Hermione shouted, rolling away from a few spells and flinging out a stupefy.

"So what?" Remus asked, dodging her spell and casting an anaticula. Hermione laughed, side-stepping the spell that would make her wand only produce rubber ducks, not spells, and yelled, "I was adopted! My initials are HJB!" Hermione, in the middle of a spell chain, cast a glance at the aurors watching. Tonks' mouth had dropped, and Moody was smiling gleefully. It was vaguely terrifying.

"Oh fuck no!" Remus yelled. "I can't deal with another one!"

Hermione laughed and continued firing off spells. She could feel herself getting tired, though, as was Remus. This was going to end soon, one way or another.

"Too late!" Hermione yelled, and made a final charge, running at Remus. He grinned and charged too, but when Hermione went to flip over him, he slid, managing to slide an incarcerous through her defence. Hermione landed, balanced, but was unable to avoid the tarantallegra that Remus hit her in the chest with.

She let herself fall, laughing the whole way down. "I yield!"

Immediately, Remus cancelled the spells on her, and Hermione stayed on her back for a minute, catching her breath. Remus' face appeared in her vision, and he held out a hand, which she took. He pulled her to her feet as Moody and Tonks made their way towards the pair.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. Please tell me that was a joke," Remus asked, half-laughing, half-pleading.

"Hell no, Moony," Hermione said. Remus slapped a hand to his face and scrubbed.

"Fuck." Hermione laughed at the werewolf's swear, then remembered something Sirius had told her. "Remus?" she asked innocently. He pulled his hand away from his face, eyeing her suspiciously.

"What?" His tone made Hermione grin widely.

"You're a werewolf, not a swearwolf." Remus stared at her in disbelief, then dropped his head to his chest in exacerbation. Tonks, on the other hand, burst out laughing.

"What was that, girl? HJB?" Moody asked.

Hermione blanked her face and took a deep bow. "Hermione Jane Black, at your service. Sirius adopted me as a sister last summer, saying that this way, he at least could protect me that way."

Moody was grudgingly impressed. "Good thinking, on his part. Certainly gives you a shock factor to play. Anyway, then. Black, if I was still part of the Auror Department, you'd be joining directly after graduation. And Lupin, good job." Hermione grinned at being addressed by her adopted last name.

"One thing, though; the adoption was secret, and still is. There are currently five beings that know of it, and four of them are standing right here." Hermione gestured to the group of four.

"The other?" Tonks asked.

"The Gringotts goblin that helped with the adoption. Sirius helped me charm all my official documents to say Granger still, though, to keep the secret." Hermione said.

"We'll keep your secret, Black," Moody said, and Tonks agreed.

"Impressive duelling," Moody said, having pulled down the containment and silencing charms. "I've got no issues with you pairing together on the mission. See you then." Moody said gruffly. Tonks cheerily said goodbye, and the pair left, leaving Remus and Hermione to be run over to the accumulated redheads. Ginny and the twins got to the pair first, followed closely by Ron, and the adults at a more sedate pace.

"That was brilliant!" Ginny cheered.

Hermione slid back into her normal facade, and let her cheeks warm.

"It certainly was enjoyable," Remus said. Hermione looked at him, and let out a small grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You've still got antlers, and such." She waved her wand over him, cancelling all her spells.

"Thanks, those antlers are actually quite heavy," Remus said and did the same for her.

It took a while for the assembled redheads to disperse, leaving Remus and Hermione alone.

"What about your parents?" Remus asked quietly.

"What about my parents?" Hermione asked, stalling and feigning confusion, but she knew Remus saw straight through her.

"Slip." His tone held a light warning, saying that he didn't want to press, but he would if need be.

"They're not my parents, not anymore." Hermione hung her head, collecting her thoughts. Remus waited quietly, fidgeting with his ring. "I obliviated them as soon I was of age. Sent them to Australia. They always wanted to go."

"When was that, Hermione?" Remus asked gently.

"Well, without the time turner, I'd be turning 18 in a few months. I've really just turned 21, technically." Hermione ran a hand down her face. "I did it the very beginning of the winter holidays fourth year. I had turned 17 about two weeks before."

"Oh, Slip," Remus sighed. Hermione wouldn't look at him.

"I talked it through with Sirius. He tried to convince me not to, said that it was the nuclear option, but it was the best way that I could find to protect them. I knew there was a storm brewing, and he agreed." Hermione sighed.

"Wait, when did you talk to Sirius? I thought that you became friends with him while you were staying in Grimmauld?"

"Yeah, that's when it really became a friendship. But shortly into the summer after third year, I got an owl from Sirius, thanking me for my help. I felt kind of bad, so I figured out where he was staying. It actually wasn't too far from my house, so I gave him food. 'I put a lot of effort into saving you,' I told him, 'I'm not going to let you starve.' We kept exchanging owls, and that's when I asked if he knew any other way to do it. I figured, he can't stop me from doing it, and he kind of owed me for getting him food, even if it hadn't started in order to manipulate him. He tried to convince me not to, but eventually grudgingly supported my choice." Hermione wiped her face, and Remus pretended not to notice the moisture on her face afterwards as she fought to keep it straight.

"So, when I say that they're really not my parents, not anymore, that's true. They don't know that I exist. And that's all right because they're safe. I was pretty attached to Granger, but even I saw the sense in Sirius' adoption suggestion. It added a layer of protection, especially since it was a blood adoption."

"Yeah, I can see how it would," Remus said, not exactly sure what to say to Hermione's explanation.

"And it's good for another thing, as well," Hermione said. She fought through the slight wobble in her voice and pulled a grin onto her face.

"Oh?" Remus asked, meeting her eyes.

"There's still a Black around to annoy you." Hermione widened her grin, and it became more real as Remus snorted and shook his head despite his grin.

* * *

AN: And here's another one! Hope you enjoyed it. Some new info, too.

Now for reviews:

KateKat1992: No, thank you for reading! Here's another chapter!

sazmccazz: Hope the wait wasn't too long, and I'm glad you enjoyed.

LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL: Thank you!

This is Remus, signing off!


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